Meeting a Legend
by Oi-Watch-It-Spaceman
Summary: The Doctor and Rose are in Medieval England, but running into a living legend leads to the admitting more than they first thought. Warning: severe danger of fluff and romance.
1. Chapter 1

**So here it is, the Doctor meets Robin Hood - I've had this one in my head for ages. Just to let you know, the characters of Robin and his men are based on the versions from the 2006 BBC adaptation, but this isn't a crossover as I only wanted to use their characters, and haven't stuck to the canon of the BBC Robin Hood universe :P As always, I own none of this.**

Rose cursed loudly, picking up the skirt of her floor-length green dress and hopping, as best she could, over the enormous puddle of mud that stretched across the entire woodland path that she and the Doctor were following. The Doctor had sprung merrily over the expanse of mud, hands in pockets, seemingly not noticing Rose's increasing frustration with her current attire.

It was at the Doctor's insistence that she had trawled the TARDIS wardrobe for something suitable to wear in Medieval England, though Rose was sure that had the TARDIS not been nudging her in the right direction, she would probably still be in there now. The dress was fine really, nothing fancy, but a nice shade of forest green, with long sleeves and a bit of gold detail picked out on the front. Still, however much she sort of liked it, the dress was hardly suitable for what the Doctor had said was "just a quick stroll" to the nearest town.

Rose managed the jump, landing on the other side of the puddle and hurrying to catch up to the Doctor, who had carried on walking without her. Noting bitterly that the Doctor had not changed one aspect of his regular pinstriped suit (though he never seemed to change his clothes to fit the time period, even before the regeneration) Rose called out to him.

"How much further?"

"What?" the Doctor called back, turning to look at her and showing a moment of surprise that she had managed to get so far behind. "Hurry up, I wanna get to the castle!" he shouted, giving her a bit of a smirky grin as she scowled at his comment – clearly her struggle with her outfit was amusing to him – before turning around and continuing down the path.

Rose responded to this by quickly snatching up a conker from the trees, and lobbing it straight at the back of his head. Her anger only seemed to give her better aim, as she managed to strike the Doctor squarely in the back of the head. Rose let out a triumphant laugh, only laughing harder as the Doctor turned towards her, confusion and suspicion showing plainly on his face. He narrowed his eyes at her, folding his arms in disapproval as she began to walk towards him, stifling her giggles and attempting to pull her lips down into something resembling a neutral expression.

"Right then" the Doctor suddenly cried, snatching up the conker from where it had fallen and drawing his arm back to throw it, a delighted grin now showing on his face. Rose immediately flung up her hands to protect her face, laughing again and backing away.

"What a shocking way to treat such a fine lady" came a voice to the Doctor's left and within seconds the pair, still about 5 metres apart, were surrounded by a group of four men. The one behind Rose and the one to her left were aiming arrows at them both with unsettling precision. Just behind the Doctor, Rose could see another man, tall and strong, with a beard and a long wooden staff. There was one other man, standing slightly farther back into the trees at Rose's right, who was not pointing a weapon at either of them, though he had a deadly looking bow at his side.

For a few seconds no-one moved. The Doctor's arm had fallen to his side, still holding the conker, and Rose had her hands held up, showing that she was unarmed, a position which had become something of a habit since she had begun travelling with the Doctor.

One of the men, the one who had spoken and was not armed, stepped forward from the trees to the Doctor's left. He was the only man not aiming his bow and arrow at either of them. From this Rose surmised that he must be their leader. Quite young to be a leader though, she thought. He only looked in his mid to late 20's, slightly scruffy hair and stubble on his chin, with wicked blue eyes that seemed to sparkle as he looked between them. The man had stopped at the edge of the path at an equal distance between the Doctor and Rose, and folded his arms. He was smiling, a good-natured grin with an element of cockiness to it that Rose could only describe as being "Doctor-ish".

"And who might you be?" the man pondered, taking in their appearance and making Rose suddenly glad that she hadn't stayed in her jeans and t-shirt. The Doctor's suit and converse stood out like a sore thumb among the clothes of these people, and Rose was sure that they did not know what to make of him. _You and me both _ she thought, slightly amused.

The Doctor slid his hands into his pockets and gave the man a friendly grin. "I'm the Doctor," he stated, removing his right hand from its corresponding pocket to gesture towards Rose, "and this is my friend, Rose Tyler. We're not from around here, as you've probably guessed by now."

"A physician?" one of the men asked, looking towards the leader for confirmation. He was about the same age as the leader, with blonde hair mostly hidden under a cap, and carried a shield as well as a bow. "Master, if he is a physician, then maybe he can help us with Will."

"Peace, Much," said the leader, eyes never leaving the Doctor, who was still smiling happily, seeming to enjoying himself though Rose was sure that, by this point, he had already taken in the 5 men surrounding them, and was planning an escape.

"So, you are a physician, but what is your name?" continued the leader.

"Just the Doctor."

"What, no real name, just a title?"

"Nope, he's the Doctor, that's it," said Rose, now finding herself a subject of scrutiny.

"Well," the leader said after a pause, reminding Rose of the Doctor even more than before, "we were only going to take some of your money to help our cause, but as we have one of our men injured, we will let you keep your money if you agree to help him."

"Good thing too, we don't have any money anyway." The Doctor seemed genuinely pleased to be able to help, and the leader returned his smile. The leader gestured for them to follow him, then turned and began to make his way through the trees behind him. The Doctor and Rose began to follow, pausing for a moment to give each other a quick hug before carrying on, hands held firmly between them.

"So," began the Doctor, as they made their way in and around the trees, Rose inwardly cursing the way her skirts kept catching on branches, "what is this cause? Must be pretty important if you're robbing anyone who wanders through the woods."

"You could say that," the leader agreed, looking back at them as they made their way up a slope, "we are giving the money to the people, to help them live and pay their taxes until King Richard returns from the Holy Land."

At this the Doctor stopped in his tracks, which Rose only realised when her hand, still held in his, was jerked sharply backwards as she attempted to follow the others. "What?" she asked, taking in the expression of confusion and wonder on his face.

"You don't mean-" the Doctor said, eyes wide and mouth beginning to take on the normal ecstatic expression that Rose knew so well, "you can't be—what's your name?"

The leader turned around to face them, strong and determined and completely in his element. "I am Robin of Locksley, Earl of Huntingdon."

The Doctor laughed then, clapping his hands and throwing his head back in a way that amused Robin, though Rose was not yet sure why. Seeing that Rose still looked confused, the Doctor turned to Robin. "You've got another name though, haven't you? Go on, I'm afraid Rose still doesn't recognise you."

Robin turned towards Rose and grinned, giving a short bow before answering. "They call me Robin Hood," he said, and Rose took one wide-eyed look at the Doctor's beaming face before throwing her head back and roaring with laughter.

**Hope you liked it, I couldn't resist making Robin Hood real, he's one of my favourite characters of all time, plus I think the Doctor is a lot like him. Or he's a lot like the Doctor. Whatever. Anyway, thanks for reading, next chapter will be up within a couple of days.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two is here! I actually managed it the next day for once, feeling a bit pleased with myself at the moment :P I'm actually thinking that there might not be aliens in this adventure - or at least, not many. I'm enjoying the whole Robin Hood thing, maybe this time the Doctor and Rose can just do great historical deeds instead of alien ones? Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

"Usually we don't inspire that response," said Robin Hood, looking partly curious and partly amused at Rose and the Doctor's reaction to finding out who he was. Rose was still laughing, and the Doctor was grinning widely. They pulled each other into an ecstatic hug, as was often the procedure when meeting a legendary creature or a person from history. Rose took a moment, taking in the Doctor's smell and his arms and the feeling of happiness that came from sharing these moments with him, a sense of complete and utter joy that radiated from him like heat. She pressed her face into his shoulder and then stepped away, looking happily at him for a moment before smacking him in the arm.

"Ow! What did I do now?" cried the Doctor,clutching his arm and leaping back a couple of steps in fear of more blows, though Rose did not seem inclined to hit him again. Robin's men were looking at him curiously, but Robin seemed to be suppressing laughter. The Doctor would not admit it, but an angry Rose was more a source of fear for him than most monsters in the Universe, probably because he did not have to take Daleks with him in the TARDIS when he left an alien planet.

"You said we're near London, we're in bloody Nottingham!" scoffed Rose, giving the Doctor that look that he had come to define as the "Lord of Time yet still can't land us in the right place" look. The Doctor winced for a moment, – he had hoped that Rose would not cotton onto this fact -and looked a little sheepish, pulling on his ear and not looking her in the eye as Robin began to laugh again (_he wouldn't laugh if he were on the end of one of Rose's slaps ,_the Doctor thought). "Well, it's all relative isn't it? I mean we don't seem that close to London but, compared to being on the other side of the Universe, we're about as close as you can get without being there." Seeing that this was never going to work, the Doctor coughed before calling out "well Robin (can I call you Robin?), didn't you say something about an injured friend? I'm guessing..." the Doctor paused for a moment, taking an inventory of them men that surrounded them, "Will Scarlett, am I right?"

"How did he-?" began the man Robin had referred to as Much, but Robin waved his hand, indicating for Much to be quiet, still looking at the Doctor.

"You seem to know a lot about us," said Robin, stepping closer to the Doctor.

"Well, you're famous aren't you? Robin Hood and his band of outlaws! Robbing the rich to feed the poor, Sheriff of Nottingham, Guy of Gisbourne, Maid Marian, bows and arrows, brilliant!"

Rose smacked the Doctor on the arm with the back of her hand, indicating that his enthusiasm might be reaching dangerous levels. He winced and rubbed his arm, muttering "will you please stop doing that?" in an injured tone and looking innocently at Rose, who stuck her tongue out at him before folding her arms. Robin seemed more amused than ever. After a second taking in the pair of them, he turned around to continue walking. "I think I'm going to like you two."

"That's not what most people say," replied Rose cheerfully, striding off in step with Robin and leaving the Doctor to hurry along in her wake, "normally it's either 'get off our land!' or 'shoot to kill!'"

"You don't look like the sort of people who cause that much trouble," said Robin, looking sideways at Rose and grinning, raising one eyebrow as he did so. Rose grinned back, tongue visible between her teeth for a moment, and the Doctor felt a little twinge of jealously deep inside himself, indicating that he was not happy with the flirting that was happening in front of him. The Doctor was used to the feelings now, and they were so minute inside his massive Timelord brain that he did not even react to them anymore Rather, he observed them as a scientist observes an experiment, interested in the way they changed depending on what was going on and, particularly, what Rose was doing.

"Oh, but we definitely are," assured Rose, and the roguish twinkle in Robin's eyes caused the prickling of jealously inside to him rise to levels he had never before felt, even with Captain Jack on board (though there was the small fact that Jack had flirted just as much with the Doctor as he had with Rose).

"Anyway," the Doctor almost shouted, bounding up to Rose's side and taking her hand as they continued their journey through the woods, " I think some introductions are in order. You first."

"It seems you already know us well enough, Doctor," said Robin.

"Well, that's true, but since this is our first meeting we should probably do this properly. We'll start then: as we said before, I'm the Doctor – just the Doctor – and this is Rose Tyler. We're travelling, taking in the sights and all that, seeing a bit of the world as it were." Here the Doctor broke off, gesturing for Robin to speak.

"Well then," said Robin, "I am Robin Hood, you can just call me Robin, titles aren't important here, we're all outlaws anyway." He gestured towards the man who had spoken earlier. "This is Much, he served me when we were fighting in the Holy Land, and tends to act like my mother unless told otherwise." The Doctor and Rose laughed at this, and Robin joined in, quickly moving on before Much had time to protest. "This here is John Little, he might look fearsome but don't take any notice of that, he's as loyal and brave as any man could wish for." John inclined his head at this, leaning on his staff and smiling, but not saying anything yet. "And this man," continued Robin, walking over to the last man of the group, "is Alan A Dale, commonly known as Alan, as fine a thief and liar as you could ever hope to meet. Don't expect the truth from him, I doubt he'll speak one word of it the whole time you're here."

"He's probably right, you know," said Alan. Alan was about the same age as Robin, quite good looking but with shorter hair and a longer nose. He gave off an aura of being full of mischief, but also good-natured and cheerful, and Rose found herself liking him already.

"There's also Will," added Robin, his face suddenly clouding over and becoming determined with just the tiniest hint of worry in his eyes. It was now that Rose could see the leader in him, the strength that made every one of these men follow and trust him absolutely.

"Of course, Will!" exclaimed the Doctor, smacking himself in the head, a clear sign that he had forgotten about Will up until that moment. "We'd better get to him, sounds like he needs my assistance." The Doctor grinned rather cockily at Rose, who sighed without being able to stop herself from smiling a bit, and shoved him.

"Go on then," she ordered as he stumbled before managing to regain his footing, "let's get on with it. Lead the way Robin."

"Yes my lady," said Robin, giving her a short mocking bow before grinning and pushing through the trees to their left, " and welcome to our camp." Robin stepped through the line of trees in a small leaf covered clearing, chivalrously holding back the branches for Rose who followed him through, dragging the Doctor by the hand – a hand which was clutching Rose's much tighter than normal on account of the jealously in the back of the Doctor's mind, which was rapidly increasing from a faint prickling to a surprisingly sharp stabbing.

**Gotta love a bit of jealous Doctor. He was definitely jealous, especially as Nine, so I like to give Ten a bit of a chance to be jealous too - and Robin is a bit of a charmer, it has to be said. I wonder if I can continue this streak of a chapter a day? Fingers crossed. But anyway, I hope you liked it, review if you want to but no pressure, just knowing that people are actually reading this story is good enough for me :)  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Well, sorry that it's been a few days, but life has suddenly turned rather hectic. We had a house fire on Friday night, so we've been at a hotel and we won't be able to go back home until they've cleaned the house and sorted it out, because there's so much smoke damage and it's dangerous to live in. So wifi access had been limited, but I'll post whenever I can. Hope you enjoy this one, thanks for continuing to read it.**

The Doctor and Rose stepped into the clearing, looking around at the camp of the outlaws. There wasn't really much to see, a few blankets and some food, a fireplace of stones with the embers of a fire still burning, and a multitude of weapons. Rose stood still for a moment, taking in the place that this group of brave men called home, but her eyes were almost immediately drawn to the other side of the clearing, where a young man lay on a blanket, pale and drawn with his eyes closed. Rose felt guilt well up inside of her – up until this point she had forgotten the reason that she and the Doctor were with Robin and his men.

Robin himself had rushed immediately up to the young man (Will Scarlett, Rose remembered) with concern showing on his face, and was conversing quietly with a dark haired young woman who was knelt next to Will, carefully bandaging a deep wound on his arm. Rose assumed this was Marian, from the way in which she spoke with Robin and the others, although Rose had expected her be high and mighty and live in a castle – at least, that was what the Disney version of Robin Hood had depicted, although Robin Hood had been a fox in that, so Rose doubted its credibility.

This young woman looked capable and strong, she would have to be to make herself heard among these men, especially in this day and age, and Rose was pleased to see that she commanded a sort of quiet authority among the men. She watched as Robin checked Will's wounds, still speaking urgently with Marian, and Rose smiled to herself as she saw the way Robin placed his hand on Marian's arm as he spoke to her. She had seen that look before; Robin had it bad. At least that part of the Disney film had been correct.

It had only taken Rose a few seconds of watching to observe all this, but her observations were suddenly cut off by her realisation that the Doctor was already on the other said of the clearly, long brown coat flung over the nearest tree branch, sonic in hand, ready to help. Rose made her way over to them, glad to see that the Doctor was living up to his name (well, title really), taking out his stethoscope and listening to Will's chest. Up close, Rose could see that Will was actually younger than the other men, really only a little older than her, with dark hair that made a sharp contrast with his startlingly white face.

"What happened to him?" the Doctor asked as Rose approached. She knelt down next to the Doctor as Robin began to explain. It appeared that a fight with some of the Sheriff's men had turned nasty, Will had been wounded deeply, but it appeared that Sir Guy (Guy of Gisbourne, notably absent from the Disney film, a voice a the back of Rose's mind reminded her. She was getting tired of an animated film being her only helpful reference in this situation) had put some sort of poison on his blade, a poison which neither Robin or Marian, nor any of the men had seen before. Luckily on the wound of Will's arm had been inflicted with Sir Guy's blade, or he might not have survived this long, but he was deteriorating fast.

Just as Robin was finishing explaining this, Marian interrupted him. "But never mind that for a moment – who are they?" she asked, turning to Robin, "you can't just let anyone treat him, these might be working for the Sheriff!"

"Do they look like they work for the Sheriff to you?" replied Robin, and Rose remembered the Doctor's clothes, the 21st century language and the fact that they had not realised who Robin was at first. Considering all this, Rose still wondered why Robin had decided to trust them. "This is the Doctor, as you can probably tell, he's a physician, he and Rose," Robin indicated Rose and she smiled at Marian, who returned her smile a little hesitantly, " aren't from around here, they seem to be lost and they have no money, in short they are the worst people we've ever had the misfortune of robbing." Rose smiled at this, and the Doctor laughed.

"Sorry to disappoint you, we'll have to try harder next time, won't we Rose?"

Rose grinned. "'Course, next time we'll be a joy to rob, cross our hearts." She drew a cross over her heart, and the Doctor crossed both of his, a detail that Rose was certain that Robin hadn't missed. Once they were back at the TARDIS, Rose was going to have to give the Doctor some notes on how to act human. Robin and Marian were being calm enough about it, but the Doctor's weirdness would surely have freaked out some of the less sensible people they were bound to meet.

"Well, Doctor," said Marian, evidently having decided to trust them (Rose suspected that Robin's judgement was normally correct, it seemed his testament had swayed Marian's thoughts on them) "can you help him? I've stitched up the wounds but I'm worried there might be further damage to his insides. We can't risk bringing a physician here, if they're followed by the Sheriff's men then it's the noose for all of us."

"That now includes you I'm afraid," added Robin, large blue eyes apologetic. "The problems of consorting with outlaws I'm afraid."

"Oh, that's alright," said Rose, brushing this revelation off with such a nonchalant air that Marian and Robin seemed a little confused. "We've been on the wrong side of the law enough times," Rose clarified, watching the Doctor as he scanned Will with his screwdriver, "it seems your Sheriff isn't the only authority who's corrupted – I suppose you could say we're in quite similar professions."

The Doctor gave her a look that clearly said "don't say too much," in answer to which Rose simply pointedly glanced at the screwdriver, buzzing in his hand, then back at the Doctor. Her look was more "do you think they haven't already noticed how weird you are?" The Doctor let a grin spread across his face, and she could see his tongue poking through his teeth just a little, a trait she was sure he'd stolen from her in the months it had been since his regeneration.

"Will?" The Doctor shook Will's shoulder gently, all traces of the grin gone from his face, every ounce of his concentration centred on Will.

Marian gently stroked Will's forehead. "Will, Will wake up," she whispered, frowning a little as though she could force him awake if only she wanted it enough. Will's eyes fluttered a little, and after a couple of attempts he managed to keep them open. The relief that Rose felt, and that was clearly showing on her face, was reflected on the faces of Robin and Marian.

The Doctor was not smiling, but Rose could see in his eyes the happiness he felt that Will was still alive. She sometimes wondered whether the Doctor tried so hard to save everyone because of what had happened in the Time War. Although, she had often reasoned to herself, she thought that he was probably like this before the Time War, it seemed like a natural reflex. Rose often thought that the happiest she had ever seen the Doctor was that moment in London in World War II, where everyone had survived. Saving lives was something the Doctor just had to do – Rose wouldn't have him any other way.

Will's eyes fluttered again and the Doctor's eyebrows contracted. "Will? Will! Listen to me Will, I'm the Doctor and I'm going to save you. I've cleared up the internal wounds, but I'm going to have to burn the poison out of your arm before it spreads. Luckily it's been spreading very slowly, no doubt Sir Guy had to add other things to the mixture to make it stick to his sword, but it's going to hurt. I'm so sorry, but I promise that you will be perfectly fine again, you have my word."

Will, nodded, such a weak nod that Rose thought his neck couldn't hold the weight of his head, before looking around and focussing on Robin. "He's good," Will croaked, nodding towards the Doctor, "you should keep him around, you're so jeopardy friendly you could use a personal physician."

Robin laughed at this, showing his relief that Will was still himself, and Rose and the Doctor exchanged a glance. Rose knew that they were both thinking back to World War II again, where the Doctor, still big ears and leather jacket at this point, had described Rose as his most "jeopardy friendly" companion to date. It occurred to Rose that, actually, the life of Robin and his men was not dissimilar to her life with the Doctor, if you excluded the aliens and the travelling around in a spaceship. The danger, the fighting for what was right, the laughing and joking (_the obvious but unspoken love, _a voice in her head added. At least Robin and Marian would be able to be together and grow old. However, if Robin got hurt then he would not regenerate, and Marian would be alone. _Still, at least Robin has probably told Marian how he feels, _the voice continued. _Oh shut up, _Rose told her brain, feeling happy, not for the first time, that the Doctor's telepathy skills did not stretch to reading her thoughts.)

**Well, that was a bit longer than I thought it would be, but I like it when that happens - all the more to read! I'll try and get the next chapter up soon, but the latest it will be up will be in 3 or 4 days - I go to stay with my Grandma then, so I will definitely have internet then. Thanks again for reading, hope you're enjoying it. Not sure how many more chapters there'll be, probably quite a few :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well here's chapter 4! I have nearly finished chapter 5 now though, so that should hopefully be posted tomorrow. The hotel I am in doesn't have wifi, and my house still doesn't have electrics and the air is still toxic, so I am sitting outside the front of the house (where there is wifi) with cars beeping at me in order to post this. That, my dear readers, is how much I care :P I apologise for any grammatical errors that appear in any of my stories, but the sad fact is that a) when reading my own stories I tend to just read what I think is there, instead of what's actually on the page, so if there is supposed to be punctuation I just imagine it is there, and b) I read really fast, so I often miss those little full stops :( Will try my best in future, though I hope a few commas will not stop you reading. Allons-y!**

The Doctor stood up and moved around to Will's other side. Marian and Robin stood up and moved away, standing with Alan, Much and John, who had all gathered around to watch Will's treatment and, hopefully, cure. The audience did not seem to faze the Doctor in the slightest – Rose supposed that he was used to having many people relying on him to save the day – he simply rolled up Will's sleeve and pulled the arm out at a right angle, holding it tightly at the shoulder in order to restrict movement, pulled his glasses out of his inside pocket and plonked them wonkily on his nose.

"Now Will," said the Doctor, looking up from the arm and at Will, who was observing the Doctor's work with increasing worry, though Rose could tell he was trying to remain calm and be brave about it, "I'm going to do this as quickly as possible, but it's still going to hurt a lot. This is Rose, she's my friend. Will looked over at Rose, who smiled encouragingly and placed a hand on his arm, hoping that it conveyed the comfort that he seemed to sorely need. "I want you to hold Rose's hand, focus on her, and squeeze it if the pain gets too much. She won't mind, will you Rose?" The Doctor was focusing on Will's arm again, but Rose could see that he was persuading Will to place his trust in her, so she took Will's hand in both of hers and said "'course I won't, squeeze all you like."

Will rewarded her with a smile, one of the weakest and most desperate that Rose had ever seen, but it reached his eyes, and Rose returned it tenfold, hoping that she could provide enough assurance and confidence for the both of them. At that moment Rose was blindly trusting that the Doctor knew what was doing, as was so often the case whenever she was asked to help him.

The Doctor took a deep breath, pinned Will's arm down with his left hand, held the screwdriver to the deep gash with his right, and pressed the button down firmly. None of them were prepared for the scream that Will let forth. Rose's hand was being squeezed violently, she could feel her fingers cracking in Will's grip, and somewhere underneath her terror and concern her mind found time to hope that the Doctor would finish before she sustained a broken finger.

From her position at Will's side Rose could see that thick black liquid that was beginning to trickle out of the wound. She stroked Will's pale forehead with her free hand as she watched the Doctor mop up the liquid with a piece of cloth, still holding the screwdriver to the wound.

"How long will this take?" asked Marian urgently, clearly distressed by Will's pain. Robin put his hand on her shoulder, and she in turn placed her hand over his, neither able to take their eyes away from Will's face, distorted almost unrecognisably from its usual calm demeanour by the agony.

"Nearly there," muttered the Doctor, wiping away more of the poison and glancing up at Rose, letting out a grimace that Rose knew was meant to reassure, though in fact it made her feel worse than ever. She continued to grip Will's hand, hoping that the Doctor was actually nearly done, and not just trying to make everyone feel better – he had a history of lying to people and doing things for their own good, Rose had been on the receiving end of his "for the best" actions too many times not to be suspicious of him now.

However, it appeared that, for once, the Doctor had been telling the truth, and a few seconds later he turned off the sonic screwdriver, letting it fall to the ground as he wiped away the last of the poison and began to bandage the wound. Rose felt Will's hand go limp in hers. "Will?" She touched his arm, hoping that he was going to wake up and be right as rain, although that was never the case and she knew it.

Robin knelt down next to her, looking at Will intently. Rose had been so focused on waking him that Robin had managed to completely sneak up on her – either that or he could move through the woods completely silently, which seemed entirely plausible considering his occupation and location.

"Will? Will, wake up, the poison's gone." Robin shook Will's shoulder firmly, and Rose let out a breath that she hadn't been aware she'd taken in when she saw Will's eyes open, looking clear and aware for the first time.

He said nothing for a moment, eyes moving from face to face as he took in all the people staring at him. They finally came to rest on Rose, and Will coughed a couple of times before croaking out "did I break your hand?" Rose laughed, followed immediately by the Doctor and the rest of the group. Even Marian smiled, though she still seemed rather shaken by the close shave that Will had had with death. She bent down next to the Doctor again, scrutinising the neatly tied bandage, the only visible evidence of Will's life-threatening wound.

"Will he be alright now?" Marian asked the Doctor, looking at him for confirmation. The Doctor smiled at her, that winning grin that Rose was sure every human being was unable to resist, and pulled off his glasses. The movement only served to emphasise the sparkling smile, and she found a matching one beginning to grow on her face – the Doctor's smiles were contagious.

"Yep, he'll be right as rain. He'll need a couple of days of rest, no robbing the rich to feed the poor until he's strong enough, but he's out of danger. Well done, by the way, if you hadn't have started to stitch up his wounds and treat him before I got here, I wouldn't have been able to help him."

Marian stood up. "It was nothing," she replied smoothly, turning away and walking over to where she had left her cloak, though Rose was sure she saw a blush in Marian's cheeks at this high praise from the alien in the pinstriped suit, who was at this moment conversing merrily with the men, completely at ease in every situation.

Rose was sure she felt the tiniest hint of jealousy tingling in the back of her neck – after all, she was the one who had actually helped the Doctor, even though she had no medical training. She sighed to herself, standing up and pulling a blanket over Will, taking the time to tuck him in neatly in order to clear her head of any jealous and (dare she think it?) possessive thoughts that she may or may not be having about the Doctor, who was laughing at the men's jokes and congratulating them on their valiant behaviour in the absence of the king.

Rose left Will, who had fallen into a peaceful and much needed sleep, and slowly wandered around the camp, taking in the few possessions that were the only things denoting that this place was a home as opposed to just another clearing in the woods. She heard someone walking up beside her and, assuming it was the Doctor, she continued to look out into the woods.

**So there you have it - chapter 4. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to my Grandma's tomorrow, hopefully I should have the wifi to post the next chapter, but on friday and saturday I am at a family gathering (so much social interaction, no privacy, it's going to be great :/) but I will try my very best! Until we meet again, dear readers, I must bid you all adieu.**

**P.S. If any of you have tumblr, my url is donna-and-her-spaceman. Just in case you wanted to know :P I only say because it is a Doctor Who tumblr, primarily centred around Doctor/Rose and, considering that you are reading this story, you probably like a bit of Doctor/Rose...  
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	5. Chapter 5

**Well I said I would post today, and I will not be disappointing you, my dear readers (sorry about calling you that, by the way. Lemony Snicket does it and I've sort of picked it up as a habit :P). Thanks for reading, and thanks to all the people who followed me on tumblr, presumably because I stuck my url on the end of the story :D I couldn't help it! Anyway, back to Rose and the Doctor...**

"You are not from around here, are you?" offered the voice from her side, and Rose whipped her head around to see Robin standing beside her, leaning on his bow and looking for all the world as though he was just making pleasant conversation, though Rose could sense the curiosity that lay just beneath the surface of his casual question.

"No, no we're not. Well, not too far from here I suppose, but a very different...no, it's just, we're not from really far away but where we come from it's very different there and..." Rose trailed off, sighed in annoyance and closed her eyes for a moment. The Doctor always managed this so well, explaining where they were from without giving too much away or mentioning the fact that they were from a different time. Rose had always struggled with this aspect, and for a moment she considered calling the Doctor over to explain, but something stopped her. After all, Robin had chosen to ask her, not the Doctor, about this – he must have a reason for it.

"I'm not expecting to understand," Robin assured her, and Rose found herself floundering for words under his blue-eyed gaze. It was like they were piercing into her, and she found herself wanting to tell Robin the truth, even if her wouldn't understand it. This was the 12th century, she was already surprised that something like the sonic screwdriver had not sent everyone running.

"Good thing too, 'cause I barely understand it myself."

"You have devices that I do not understand, the Doctor at least is wearing the strangest clothes I've ever seen, and you both speak in such a confusing way – now I'm not used to being confused." Robin grinned at her, and Rose fought to stay focused on what he was saying. She would never have expected Robin Hood to be such a charmer – and yet she somehow found she was not really surprised.

"Well, I suppose there's a first time for everything," she returned, continuing to walk around the camp and forcing him to follow her. A pair of blue eyes and a charming smile were not going to get the best of Rose Tyler.

"Robin," came a call from the other side of the clearing, and Rose spun around to see Marian, now wearing her cloak and carrying a bag, a mask in her hand, "I'm going back now, send word of Will's condition tomorrow, will you?"

"We'd better be going too, actually," chipped in the Doctor, springing up from where he had been sitting on the floor, and grabbing his long coat from the branch of a tree in one smooth movement – Rose wondered where he got the endless energy, he barely ever slept and it was like he was on a constant sugar high.

"We will accompany you back," said Robin, signalling for the men to collect their weapons. "Will is no longer in danger, but there are worse outlaws than us in these woods and you two aren't even armed."

"I tend to just talk my way out of trouble," evaded the Doctor.

"I can believe that," said Little John, and everyone laughed, the Doctor included.

"I can accompany them back," said Marian, and Rose noticed for the first time the sword that hung at Marian's side. Even though the Doctor did not do violence against absolutely necessary, and never carried a gun, Rose found herself wishing that she had some sort of weapon. Not because she wanted to go around killing, but because relying on the Doctor's endless supply of babble to get them out of situations made her feel so helpless. She could talk her own way out well enough, but she was not just going to wait around for the Doctor to save her. Marian seemed so capable and independent and Rose found herself liking her more and more, though Rose could see how much she really wanted to stay with Robin.

"Never said you couldn't," said Robin, giving Marian the winning smile that Rose had been exposed to a few minutes earlier – if Marian was affected by it, she didn't show it. Rose supposed she must have been dealing with the effect Robin had on people for a long time, maybe she had built up an immunity. "Nevertheless," continued Robin, "we all go. We owe it to the Doctor and Rose, and you Marian, you saved Will's life. It's the least we can do."

"Happy to help," said the Doctor, hands in his pockets as he followed Robin out of the clearing, a different way than they had come in. Rose hurried to follow, falling into step with Marian.

"Why do you have a mask?" Rose asked, hoping that the answer wasn't too obvious – she wasn't in the mood to be made to feel stupid.

Marian smiled, holding it up so Rose could take a look. "I'm a lady," she explained, "being seen helping Robin Hood is a hanging offence, and I have to protect myself. If they caught me and found out who I was, they would hang me and punish my father for it. I have to be careful. Besides, I can do just as much good as Robin Hood, even if I'm not one of his men."

Rose grinned at this. "I bet you can. They can just blunder in with weapons, but we all know who's got the brains." Marian laughed, all the time keeping her hand on the hilt of her sword. It didn't seem as though she was taking any chances. Rose wondered how many times she had been attacked that she was now so vigilant while journeying through a frankly harmless looking forest.

They trudged on through the trees, and somehow or other Rose found herself next to the Doctor, who pulled her hand into his without a second thought. Rose smiled up at him, glad to have him back by her side again.

"Are you two joined at the hand or something?" It was Much who had spoken, but it seemed to be a good-natured question.

Rose smiled – these really did seem to be "merry men", Rose was sure she had not smiled this much in weeks – and thought for a moment before replying.

"I suppose it's kind of a symbol of friendship where we come from, wouldn't you say Doctor?"

"Oh yes, definitely, you should try it some time." The Doctor grinned, watching as Much looked down at his hand and then up again.

In a flash the situation turned on its head, as Much's face froze and he let forth a cry.

"Master! The Sheriff's men!"

Robin whirled round to see what Much was pointing at, and was greeted by a band of 12 soldiers, in full metal armour and seated upon horses. Some held swords, some bows and arrows, and all were moving, making to surround the group.

Robin's bow was up before Rose could even blink, and she felt the Doctor's hand tighten in hers. She glanced up in time to see the look that passed between the Doctor and Robin. There was no way the Doctor was going to be able to talk his way out of this one – Rose had heard Robin explaining the brutality of the Sheriff's men to the Doctor only a few minutes earlier.

There were really only four options, as Rose had seen it:

Option 1 – Run away. Rose had thought this seemed unlikely to work, and was assured by Robin that this was a path that he and his men almost never took.

Option 2 – Kill /seriously wound all the Sheriff's men. This was one that Rose was sure the Doctor would have a problem with, but compared to the remaining options she was willing to risk it.

Option 3 – Get killed. Rose was not dwelling on this option.

Option 4 – Get captured by the Sheriff's men, taken to Nottingham Castle, and hanged at dawn.

These men were not going to stop and listen to anything that the Doctor had to say, even if he could think of something that would stop them from firing. The Sheriff's men knew Robin Hood, and they had no qualms about simply slaughtering him and all those loyal to him in the blink of an eye. These were not aliens who would be negotiated with or talked round or simply tricked by the Doctor. It was kill or be killed, not just for, but for the Doctor too.

For the first time, Rose wished she had a gun.

**Well well well, my first real cliffhanger :P It really does make it very exciting, especially since I happen to know what happens next. Don't worry though, the next chapter's almost finished, it'll be up tomorrow morning - though I suppose that's evening or even the middle of the night for some of you :) Thanks for all your lovely reviews, and thanks again for sticking around to read this story, it's my first proper one that isn't a one-shot. Allons-y!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for leaving you on a cliffhanger last time - I would say I'll never do it again, but I try not to tell lies :P Here's the battle, minor Doctor whump in this chapter, just to let you know - I'd like you to be aware of what you're getting yourselves in for. Just to remind you, there will be NO CHARACTER DEATH in this fic. I speak from bitter experience when I say that reading a fic in which the Doctor suddenly dies without warning can crush your soul forever. Anyway, on with the show...**

The Doctor dragged Rose backwards as Robin and his men leapt into action, firing arrows and attempting to knock the guards off their horses. They group was not quite surrounded, so they did not need to worry about anyone creeping up behind them, but that was the best that could be said of the situation. They were one man down, taken by surprise and outnumbered, not thinking about the fact that they had Rose and the Doctor with them, who they were trying to protect.

One of the guards' horses reared, knocking down Much with its hooves, and the guard urged it on towards the Doctor and Rose, wielding a lethal looking sword that was stained with blood – Rose found time to hope that it was old blood, not the blood of anyone fighting on their side right now.

The Doctor let go of Rose's hand and shoved her hard to the left, before leaping to the right and narrowly avoiding being hit head on by the horse's hooves. Rose looked up from the hard ground where she had landed, peering around to make sure the Doctor had gotten out of the way in time. She saw him a few metres away, propping himself up on his elbow and surveying the battle, which seemed to still be going strong.

Rose looked from her position on the ground, picking out each of her new friends and making sure they were alright. The battle had changed to being mostly fought with swords, and more on the ground than on horses, which gave Rose enough confidence to sit up, as she was less likely to get shot with an arrow at this point.

She spotted Robin, fending off three guards at once, and Little John just behind him, using his staff to beat back the soldiers with a surprising amount of force. Rose saw Alan fighting one guard who had manged to get hold of two swords and, furthest away from her, Marian, who had put on her mask and was fighting with such speed and agility that Rose looked on with envy.

As she began to hope that they might get out of this one, Rose suddenly remembered: Much. He had been knocked down by the horse that had charged. She stood up, spotting his body lying prone on the ground in the midst of the fighting. A good stamp from one of the guards' metal boots and it would all be over. Rose didn't even stop to try and find a weapon – by the time she could think it through she was already running towards Much's figure, the Doctor's shout of "Rose!" barely registering. Her only thought was to get to Much and get him out.

Everything happened very quickly after that. Rose had reached Much and was dragging him to safety, out of the immediate danger of the battleground, when she heard Robin holler "Marian!" She whipped round to see Marian kneeling, clutching a gash in her side as a guard raised his sword over her head, ready to deliver a fatal blow. Before Rose even had time to react (how did these people act so fast?) the guard had keeled over, one of Robin's arrows embedded in his chest.

The Doctor dashed over to Marian, trying to help her up and get her into the trees, removing his long coat and using it to staunch the bleeding. But no-one had remembered the guard on the horse who had dashed at Rose and the Doctor. The horse came crashing through the trees, and Rose let Much fall to the ground as she started towards the Doctor and Marian, who were right in its path. Rose had no idea what she was going to do, but she had to do something to stop it from happening. The guard bounded up, turning the horse at the last second so he stopped right beside the Doctor. With one smooth movement he cracked the Doctor on the head with the hilt of his sword.

Rose was faintly aware of the strangled "no!" that was ripped from her throat, of the guard giving Marian the same treatment as the Doctor, of the rest of the guards taking heed of some unknown signal and retreating down the muddy path. All she could see was the Doctor being dragged onto the back of one of the horses, skinny limbs dangling, face blank, eyes shut. Rose was suddenly back in her home on Christmas day, dragging the newly regenerated Doctor down to the TARDIS to keep him safe. She wasn't keeping him safe now.

She started to run towards the guards, as they rode away on the path through the trees, rounding a corner and out of sight faster than she could even reach the spot where the Doctor had lain. Rose kept running though, stopping only when she felt Robin's hands grab her upper arms, bringing her to a halt and holding her still.

"We have to go after them," she said immediately, not even turning around to look at Robin. "We have to save them now. Come on, we've got to go, we can't leave them."

"We can't go after them now, Rose," said Robin, and Rose could tell from the tone of his voice that he having trouble remaining calm. "There's Much to take care of and Will as well and we've got to have a plan—"

"But we've got to save them now!" Rose exploded, jerking herself away from him and spinning around, looking him directly in the face. "You told me what happens if anyone you know gets captured, you said it yourself, at dawn, we've got less than 24 hours before they'll be hanged and you can't just sit there! And Marian, if they find out who she really is, if they find out she's not just another one of your men you know what will happen to her, to her and her father and you need to help them! And what about the Doctor, he doesn't even have a weapon and he just won't fight, he hates violence! We have to save him, he can't die, I need him..."

Rose found that the tears building up in her eyes and the sobs that were queuing up in her throat had rendered her unable to continue her rant at Robin and she let her arms, which had been raised in anger and frustration, fall limply to her sides, slapping against her legs. She kept her lips pressed together, determined not to break down. She couldn't help save the Doctor and Marian if she was a wreck, but Robin wrapped his arms around her and gave her a comforting hug, and before she knew it she was crying into his chest.

Rose had noted earlier that there were so many similarities between the Doctor and Robin, but at that moment all she could feel were the differences. The Doctor was taller than Robin, and ever so slightly skinnier. He smelt different and his arms wrapped around her in different places, holding her to him so tightly as though he never wanted to let go again. She sniffed, telling herself firmly that she needed to get a grip. Afterwards Rose came to the realisation that actually, in the 12th century, hugging was probably not a very big thing among people who didn't really know each other, and this made her even more grateful that Robin had comforted her this way. Not only had it given her the time she needed to get her head together, it had also reminded her of the way in which she and the Doctor would hug at the end of an adventure when they were once again safe, and Rose was determined to have another of those moments with the Doctor, whatever it took.

Robin let go of Rose, stepping back and scrutinising her, probably making sure she wasn't going to break down even further. "We'd better get Much back to the camp, then we can make a rescue plan." He gestured to John and Alan, who came over and lifted Much. Alan gave her a sympathetic smile, and John patted her on the shoulder as he passed. They seemed just as worried about Much and Marian – and possibly the Doctor – as Robin was, and it comforted Rose to know that they were sure to fight just as hard to get them back.

"Do you think we can do it?" Rose was surprised to find that her voice was holding strong, when on the inside she felt like she was crumbling to bits.

Robin allowed himself a small smile, complete with sparkling eyes. "If there's one thing I'm good at," he replied, "it's a just-in-time rescue."

**I do love a good rescue! I might not be able to get the next chapter out tomorrow, what with this family party and everything, but it's almost finished so I'll try my best. When I write I tend to write so much that the next chapter is nearly finished before I add the chapter before, so there is a chance, do not lose hope! Thankyou for all your reviews again, I can't tell you how happy they make me!**

**Update: Will probably not be able to update until Saturday at the earliest :( I am sorry, I am so sorry.  
**

**Also, I have done rigorous research, and I was right in the first place - it is "hanged" not "hung". Aaaaah, damn you English language!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well I tried to get this out on Saturday and I didn't deliver, so it's here on Sunday morning, and it's a long one! It was originally going to be two chapters, but I put together the two halves of the story, from Rose and the Doctor's points of view, so it's a beast of a chapter! Thankyou for all your kind reviews and for carrying on reading for this long. I'm starting to worry that, once I finish this story, that I won't be able to think of another idea, and will have to continue writing oneshots for the rest of my life - ah well, this story is so fun so I don't really care :P**

The Doctor couldn't open his eyes yet, so he began to attempt a guess at what he was lying on. From the feel of it, and the pain it was creating in his ribs, he was guessing a hard stone floor. He wrenched one eye open, dragging the other lid up to join it when he saw Marian lying beside him, apparently unconscious.

The battle rushed back to him in an instant and the Doctor shot to his feet, stumbling slightly as the blood rushed to his head, temporarily blacking out his vision. He reached up to his head, feeling the raised lump at the back which must have been his reason for collapsing. He didn't remember being hit, the last thing he could recall was trying to get Marian to safety, with a vague memory of a familiar voice calling his name. Rose.

The Doctor looked around the cell, which only held him and Marian. He guessed from this that none of the others had been captured, and he hoped with all his might that Rose had escaped the fighting unscathed. The last he had seen of her she had run out to drag Much out of danger – a foolish act of bravery, and yet he had done the same thing for Marian and, as far as he knew, it was _him_ who had gotten knocked out and captured. He was sure to get some teasing about this later. If there was a later.

Marian was stirring now, and the Doctor helped her to sit up and checked the wound in her side before pacing around the edge of the cell. The wound was not too deep and had stopped bleeding a while ago, and Marian ripped a strip off the bottom of her cloak to bandage the wound with, observing the Doctor as he looked for anything that could indicate a weakness. A weakness meant a possible escape route, but as far as the Doctor could tell the cell was inescapable, obviously under the ground and build of solid stone. His sonic screwdriver wouldn't be any use on the bolts on the door, and there was nothing around to use as a weapon. A comment from what seemed like an age ago floated back to him: "Well, the assets conversation went in a flash." The Doctor sighed; he could really use Jack's teleport around about now.

A voice in his mind reminded him that he had never told Rose that Jack was still alive, that she had brought him back to life on the Game Station. He hoped against hope that he would be able to see her again and tell her. There were a lot of things he really should tell her he supposed, but dwelling on them now was not going to produce a spontaneous escape route.

"Doctor, did they only capture us?" Marian had regained the powers of speech, and was pulling her lopsided mask off her face to look at him. The Doctor nodded, and was sure he saw a look of relief flicker over Marian's otherwise calm features.

He supposed that she was grateful that Robin had not been captured. The Doctor felt this same feeling about Rose, but it was tinged with guilt at the thought that Rose was probably distraught and panicked at the thought that he was to be executed at dawn – the Doctor was not dwelling on this fact, as a companion of Robin Hood there was no other option for him and Marian, but he was not going to let the execution take place. The Doctor knew from experience that Rose did not take well to being left behind or separated from the Doctor by force, and he hoped she wasn't giving Robin and the others a hard time. It was not their fault that he and Marian had been captured.

"Well, first things first we're going to need an escape plan, from the looks of things it seems like the cell isn't providing an easy escape route, so our best plan is probably a break out when the guards come to open the cell in the morning, I suppose we'll have to knock them out in some sort of efficient way and then nick some horses and head for the forest and... what?"

Marian had been listening with an amused look on her face for a while, and had let out what could have been a giggle. The Doctor felt a little deflated at this reaction, but there was no way he was going to show it. He just waited, as patiently as he could, for her answer, though when it arrived it was definitely not what he expected.

"Firstly, I have never heard anyone talk so fast, even if they are going to be executed the following day," explained Marian, "we do have an entire night, I don't think charging through the conversation at that speed is really necessary." She gave the Doctor a look that clearly seemed to say "amateur" in a derisive tone, and the Doctor became aware that he had adopted a look that wouldn't look out of place on a rather confused deer. "And secondly," continued Marian, "you reminded me of Robin. Always planning, the pair of you, you've got to be in charge of the situation."

The Doctor would have expected there to be an edge of bitterness to Marian's voice – perhaps she felt that it was hard for her to be in charge, as she was a woman and a Lady and therefore not supposed to do this sort of thing – but in reality she spoke almost fondly. The Doctor hadn't really thought about Robin and Marian in that way – his mind did not really pick up on these sorts of things without being told to, which was why he was surprised that he was so aware of everything that Rose had said and done with Robin this morning. He knew the stories though, and deduced that they were in love but hadn't told each other yet, even though to everyone else it was blindingly obvious. _Now who does that sound like?_ said a voice in his head, the voice that always spoke up with regards to Rose and his feelings for her and, increasingly often, spoke with the voice of Captain Jack Harkness. Thinking that he was very lucky that Jack wasn't actually here (he would probably endlessly flirt with Rose until the Doctor gave in and told her) the Doctor turned his mind back to the situation at hand.

"It's good to have a plan." The Doctor shrugged, not having really thought about it this much before. "Means you're not defenceless." Marian nodded – she understood what he meant.

"Well Doctor, if you think you've got a plan then I'm all ears, though from the sounds of it yours still needs a bit of fine tuning."

"Oi!" protested the Doctor.

" It's true Doctor, I think that a vague idea like knocking out the guards in 'some sort of efficient way' isn't going to be enough, and we cannot afford to be captured or killed. They might not have realised who I am yet but they will at some point, and I am not going to let my father get punished for my actions. And I'm sure you aren't going to risk getting killed – I don't know where you come from, but this is your only chance to be able to go back there with Rose, so we need to be thorough, yes?"

The Doctor nodded, impressed.

"Well let's get going then."

The Doctor saluted her. "Yes ma'am."

"Don't salute me Doctor."

"Ha! Oh, we are going to make such a team!"

**5 miles away at the same moment**

"So what's the plan then Robin?"

Rose had been sitting on a tree stump for the past 10 minutes while Robin had finished dealing with Much. He had checked the wound and assured Rose that Much would be fine, but that he wasn't going to be conscious for a while and would most probably be confused and unable to concentrate. Rose recognised what would be described in her time as a concussion, and let Robin get on with what he was doing.

Rose had found the Doctor's coat at the battle ground. She remembered that he had removed it to try and staunch the bleeding in Marian's side, but he hadn't gotten that far before he had been captured. She had picked up the coat from the ground, holding it to her face and breathing in the familiar smell. The Doctor looked so much smaller without his coat, though not as small as he did without his suit jacket, a fact that she had observed when he had removed it to work on the TARDIS one day.

She had brought him a cup of tea, and he had wriggled out from under the console, pale blue shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow and covered in oil, or the TARDIS's equivalent to oil at least. Rose had noticed that the Doctor looked so much more vulnerable without his jacket, not concealed by the layers of fabric that acted as a shield, keeping him safe and confident and secretive. (She had also noticed that he had very nice forearms, and that the smudge of oil that had mingled with the freckles across his nose was frankly adorable, but these facts were not as relevant to her situation at the present time so she filed them away for contemplation at another point.)

Now she sat on the stump with the coat across her knees, holding the collar to her face and thinking. It had been less than an hour since the battle, but Rose was feeling as tired as though it had been days, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she couldn't. The thought of the Doctor being hanged was keeping her a constant bundle of nerves. This wasn't the same as normal – this wasn't just another alien prison, they were going to hang him, and the only chance she had of stopping that happening lay with a few men with bows and arrows and their readiness to storm a well protected castle.

"Plan?" she asked again, standing up and dumping the coat on the stump, folding her arms as she stared at Robin. Robin in turn was staring back at her, having medicated Much and put him to bed next to Will – he seemed to be figuring her out.

"It's going to be tricky, we're down to three men, that's not going to be easy—"

"Not three, four. There are four of us."

"Rose, my apologies, but you aren't one of us and you don't know how to shoot or ride or—"

Robin trailed off at the expression on Rose's face – she was looking positively mutinous, gripping the sides of her folded arms as if she was attempting not to throw something. "You can teach me then can't you," she stated plainly, no hint of a question about it. Robin sighed, rolling his eyes and turning away in exasperation, catching the eyes of Alan and John, who for their part seemed to be watching interest rather than exasperation at her demand.

Rose did not move. "Yep. We've got until dawn, and there is no way that I am staying here while you lot ride off the Nottingham. What would Marian do if you tried to make her stay here while you went to rescue someone?"

Robin turned back towards her, and to her satisfaction she found that she seemed to have struck a nerve. Now she had his attention. "You know full well she would not listen to a word you said about her staying here while you're risking your life somewhere else – I haven't known her for long but even I can see that. And no doubt she and the Doctor are going to have formed some sort of escape plan – he always does, but they never really work – but we need to get in there and rescue them, and right now you need every man and woman you can find." Rose continued to stare at him, looking braver and stronger than she felt – truthfully, the idea of a being in the midst of another battle filled her with terror.

Now for the final blow: blackmail. "We've got a lot of hours before dawn, teach me the basics or I'll just run in without any training and probably get myself killed. And just so you know, if the Doctor finds out you refused to help me and that's why I needlessly died, he will not be happy." Rose was counting on the Doctor's oncoming storm aura that seemed to be sensed by most of the people they met, warning them not to cross him if they didn't want to regret it.

Robin sighed, a long suffering sigh that Rose was sure was mostly put on, and she was proved right by the uncontainable grin that transformed Robin's features. Rose was sure that, even though he pretended not to, he really enjoyed teaching people this stuff. Just as well really, as Rose was certain that her hand eye co-ordination did not stretch to firing a bow and arrow accurately, never mind from the back of a horse.

"Alright then. Alan, go find us some horses, John, we're going to need a target, and sharpen the swords when you're done." The two men moved off, and Robin turned to Rose. "Right then, Rose Tyler," he said, and Rose was reminded of the Doctor as he rubbed his hands together and his eyes sparkled, "time to make you one of Robin Hood's men."

"And women," she reminded him.

A couple of hours later, they were taking a break from shooting practice. Robin was talking to Alan about something, and Rose was staring out into the woods as the sun began its slow crawl towards night. Her arms were aching a bit, but Robin was a brilliant teacher and she had improved greatly, especially in the last half an hour. Robin had assured her that, since they would be fighting the soldiers at close range, the most important thing was accuracy not distance or, necessarily, power.

Rose found her thoughts drifting towards what the Doctor was doing, and she hoped that they would be able to get him out in time. She began to wonder what would happen if he got stabbed through one of his hearts with a sword – could he regenerate from that sort of injury? Getting wrapped up in those sorts of thoughts was not doing her any good, and Rose forced herself to believe that the rescue would all go according to plan. It had to. She could not bear to never see the Doctor again, especially when she had never told him how she felt about him.

She had shown him of course, and she was sure he had shown her, but Rose was of the opinion that, at some point soon, there was going to have to be a show down and they were going to have to say how they felt. _And you're going to have to tell him the truth_, said a voice in her head, _no lying or evading. That's what he does, you've got to be the honest one, then maybe he'll follow suit. _ Rose sighed. The part of her brain that always urged her to confess her feelings to the Doctor – which, oddly enough, always spoke in Captain Jack's voice when it made an appearance – was getting louder and louder these days. She was having a hard job ignoring it.

"When we get him out, I'm telling him," Rose said aloud. Speaking it out loud instead of simply thinking it gave the words a finality that she had not expected and Rose bit her lip, knowing that, whatever happened, there was no going back.

"Rose?" said Robin's voice from behind her. "We'd better get you on a horse before we try more shooting, that's the skill you really need to master."

Rose turned around and walked back into the clearing, ready for another few hours on intensive training. It was going to be a long night.

**Ooh, the next chapter will be the start of the battle - are you prepared? Also I couldn't resist slipping Captain Jack in there, I love the idea that he is the part of the Doctor's subconscious that really wants him to get with Rose :P There will probably be at least 3 more chapters of this, but I will try and make it more, I'm really enjoying this one! Next chapter will be up in the next couple of days, see you then!**


	8. Chapter 8

**It's been a little longer than I would've liked, but here's the next chapter. I've noticed that the chapters are getting longer and longer (this is another one that's split between the Doctor and Rose's situation) but I can't stop myself! This chapter is really a "calm before the storm" chapter, not my favourite kind as there isn't much comedy in it. Still, I hope you enjoy it anyway. **

Rose lay on the Doctor's coat that was covering the scratchy ground, watching the night sky, which was thankfully still a dark midnight blue. There had to be at least an hour or so before they had to get moving, though Rose couldn't be sure – yet again she wished she possessed the Doctor's impeccable time sense. She felt bad that

Robin had said it was probably best for them to try and get a few hours of sleep. Rose's arms and legs were aching, and at the time she had thought it was a good suggestion, but lying here on the ground proved otherwise. It was not that the training was only helping her to fight and help with the rescue; it had also stopped her thinking, focusing her mind on the task at hand. Now, as it always did, the night was forcing Rose to think about things that had stayed at the back of her mind in the waking hours, and was doing this so effectively that Rose was having a hard time keeping her eyes closed, never mind actually dropping off to sleep.

One of the others – Rose guessed Alan – had shifted in their sleep, and Rose listened to him settle down again, certain, as she had been for the last hour, that Robin was just as awake as she was. She considered talking to him, but decided against it. Let him think that she was actually getting some rest – there was no need to give him an overtired Rose to add to his list of worries. It was a lot of responsibility that Robin had on his shoulders – the life of his men, Marian, the people of Nottingham's lives, right and wrong, all depending on him. Rose sighed, trying not to sound awake (though she did not really know if it had worked). Robin was not that much older than her.

Rose knew that she had grown up a lot in her time travelling with the Doctor, and having responsibilities and lives on her conscience was a big part of that, but Robin had something much more than that. He had to live, day in and day out, in this place where corruption was overrunning the lands, destroyed the livelihoods and the lives of the people who lived there. There was no escape for him, no TARDIS to run back to, no house to call his own, not even Marian to comfort him, as Rose knew from the little Robin had said that there was nothing he could do about Marian until King Richard returned and he was no longer an outlaw.

For a little while Rose was lifted out of her own problems and plunged into Robin's, which left her feeling not only sympathy and sadness for her new friend, but also faintly disgusted at her own selfishness in forcing him to teach her with the Doctor the only thing on her mind. Robin had a chunk of England to save, he had no time for a helpless girl from the future who wanted to save her alien—well, her alien best friend, she supposed.

Rose sighed yet again, remembering the promise she had made herself the previous evening about telling the Doctor how she felt about him. No-one had witnessed it, so she was tempted to just pretend it had never happened, but Rose had never been one to break promises, not even to herself and _especially _ ones that signified something so important. The thing to focus on now was removing the Doctor and Marian from danger. After all, there was no point focusing on what to tell the Doctor, only to find that he had been shot with an arrow while she was pondering it. All of a sudden Rose's mind was filled with images of the Doctor's lifeless body, pale and cold, 2 hearts no longer beating, regeneration no longer an option. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her hands tightly over them - letting her mind spiral into such a dark put of despair was not helpful to anyone – it wasn't going to help her do this and it certainly wasn't going to be any help to the Doctor right now.

In no time at all Rose heard Robin moving and she sat up immediately, not even bothering to feign the effects of sleep. "This has to work," she told Robin. Rose had learnt that she could be completely blunt and honest with Robin, something which she was grateful for in the present circumstances – there was nothing worse than being in a terrible situation and having to remember to be civil.

Robin nodded, seeming to be calm and collected, though if he did this sort of thing as often as the legends said he did, it was not wonder he wasn't letting nerves get the better of him. Not that Rose didn't do her own fair share of rescuing when it came to the Doctor, but she was never usually in a situation that left her so helpless – after all, you can't simply sonic the lock of a stone castle and saunter out hand in hand with the Doctor. It didn't work like that.

Rose stood up slowly, easing her aching muscles and smoothing out her now slightly crumpled green dress. Her hair was a little bit tangled, so she tied it back into a bun. It was best to keep it out of the way for now. She watched Robin rousing the other men and readying the horses. She was about to walk over to hers when she realised that she had forgotten the Doctor's coat. It lay on the ground where she had attempted to sleep, with the indentation of her body and head still visible in its brown folds.

What little comfort Rose had been able to find in the last few hours had come from that coat, and she wasn't about to leave it behind. Besides, the Doctor would want it. She carefully picked it up, shaking off a few leaves and folding it, before taking it over to her horse and tying it carefully to the saddle, taking great pains to ensure that it was securely fastened. She then dragged herself up onto her horse, with barely more grace or technique than she had showcased the first time she had attempted to get on. She remembered how Robin had laughed and frowned a little, hoping that her other skills had improved more than her horse riding had.

Rose peered around at the others, by now all seated and ready to go. She was not sure if Robin had kept their voices to a murmur for her sake, or simply because he wasn't a morning person, but either way she appreciated it.

"Well, here it goes," said Alan, clearly still unenthusiastic about their plan as he had been last night, "an unplanned and probably unsuccessful rescue."

Robin rolled his eyes and turned around to glare at Alan."No need to sound so happy about it! Besides we've attempted a lot of these rescues in the past, and who's still alive: us or the Sheriff's guards?"

Rose winced at this – she knew the Doctor would not approve of senseless killing – but she still smirked a little as she watched Alan try to deny the fact that Robin and he were still alive and relatively unharmed, despite their many ridiculous escape attempts.

"Exactly," said Robin, "now, we go to Nottingham. For the Doctor."

Rose returned his smile, and clenched her hands so tightly she thought her hands would never uncurl from the reins. "For Marian," she agreed, and she followed Robin's lead as the horses galloped through the woods, one hand on the reins, the other firmly attached to the Doctor's coat.

**At the same moment in the castle dungeon... **

The Doctor was pacing again, as he had been on and off for the majority of the last day and night. He could sense that it was exactly 57 minutes before dawn, though he guessed that actually a dawn execution would not take place at that exact time, probably about half an hour later at the earliest. Marian was asleep, content with the Doctor's promise that he would wake her before the guards came to collect them.

He studied her as she slept, taking a moment from his pacing and suddenly becoming very still. She did not look scared or worried, even in sleep. He also noted that she did not sleep with any sort of weapon in her hand, though anything of real use had been taken off them while they had been unconscious. He had seen she was an excellent swordswoman, but she wasn't paranoid either. A good combination.

The Doctor slowly began his pacing again, wishing that his racing brain would slow until he could get a few minutes of rest. Marian clearly had complete confidence in their plan, feeble though it seemed to him. The Doctor had insisted that they only knock out the guards not kill them, and Marian had agreed, although she had told him very plainly that if one of their lives was in danger she would kill without hesitation. The Doctor had reluctantly accepted this – after all, his own stance on violence as a last resort was not so different.

Their plan hinged on their ability to distract the guards when they came in to collect Marian and the Doctor and take them out to the gallows. It was a plan that had been used in countless films to great effect, though the Doctor knew from experience that, in real life, it wasn't always that easy. In basic terms, they had to get the guards to come into the cell, knock them out and steal their weapons, and make their way up from the dungeon and into the courtyard, where they could then steal horses and be on their way.

As a Lady, Marian had spent a lot of time in the castle and knew it like the back of her hand, and she had planned a route based on where the guards would be stationed at this time in the morning. She had also assured the Doctor that, because it was a public hanging if two of Robin Hood's men (or so they thought), a lot of people would be coming to watch and so the portcullis would be raised. The Doctor was thankful that Marian was there with him – she had an air of complete calm and control, she knew exactly what she was doing and now she slept, no nerves or doubts stopping her from being completely rested and ready for action in the morning. He wondered where she had got that confidence from, because he could definitely use some right now.

The Doctor rubbed his left eye with his hand, before finally giving in and sitting cross-legged on the floor, covering his face with both hands and breathing heavily. He hated being locked up in here. He had spent more than his share of time in various prisons and cells over the years, but he normally managed to escape within a matter of minutes. Having to spend almost 24 hours cooped up in a cell was torturous, so much so that he almost looked forward to the hanging, simply because it would get him out of the cell.

He cursed himself inwardly, wishing that he could've got himself knocked out and locked up in the future, when an electric lock could simply be opened with a quick press of his sonic screwdriver. Old cells were the best ones, and the Doctor had found himself rendered helpless by an iron bolt or two. Having to rely on simply running and hoping was a style that was familiar to him, but all the same he normally had some idea of what he was doing, some sort of back-up or gadget that would allow him to get ahead of the enemy. Now it was go with the plan or get taken and hanged.

The thought of the hanging brought the Doctor out of his sea of miserable thoughts, just as he could tell the sun would be rising outside the window, if they had a window. Because Rose, Robin and the men would no doubt be riding to rescue them, and there was no way that the Doctor was going to let Rose watch his body swinging from a rope. The sight of that was certain to cause enormous amounts of panic and distress, even if his respiratory bypass might save his life.

The Doctor leaned over and gently shook Marian's shoulder, watching as she opened her eyes without even seeming to battle against sleep. The Doctor wandered how long she had been awake, whether she had even slept at all. It occurred to him that the calm and collected woman he was seeing was all a mask, and he felt guilt at the fact that he had been so focused on his own problems, when Marian was in exactly the same position as he.

"You had better be ready," Marian warned him, without even a word of greeting, "these guards might seem like they aren't the brightest but they really aren't stupid, and there are a lot more of them than us."

"Oh, I'm ready," said the Doctor, flashing Marian a cocky grin. One corner of her mouth curved up into a smirk, and the Doctor was pleased to see that she had still retained a sense of humour – sometimes it was the only thing you had to cling onto.

The heard the sound of metal boots on the stone floor outside the door, and Marian stood up, clenching her hands into fists. The Doctor stuck his hands into his trouser pockets, looking calm and relaxed as he waited for the sounds that indicated the door bolts being drawn back. He had observed over the years that looking innocent and bewildered made sure that your opponent underestimated you and right now, without a weapon, he needed all the help he could get.

The bolts were being undone and the Doctor and Marian shared a glance – the Doctor was surprised to see that Marian's eyes were sparkling, with just the hint of a smile in her lips.

She smiled a little wider at his confused glance. "Well I'd rather be out running for my life than stuck in here," she told him, and the Doctor began to grin.

"Me too," he replied, as the door swung slowly open.

**Alright, I'm going to stop teasing you now. The next chapter is the big one, the epic battle and the dramatic rescue. There will be at least one chapter after that, if not more. I should update tomorrow or the next day, depending on wifi, but I promise I will make it as dramatic and brilliant and romantic as possible. Thankyou for all your reviews - until we meet again!**

**Also, my tumblr url is donna-and-her-spaceman, just in case you wanted to know :P  
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	9. Chapter 9

**I like this one. Rose gets to showcase her skills, and the Doctor is helpless for a change. Lovely :P There will be one more chapter after this one, and maybe an epilogue if you're lucky (I haven't definitely decided on an ending yet). Hope you enjoy!**

The Doctor was running yet again. The corridor was made of stone, instead of the usual futuristic metal, and the hand in his was slightly colder and did not fit as well as the usual one, but as always it all came down to this. The Doctor running for his life. All he ever did really. And he was loving every second.

They were almost at the courtyard now, Marian providing the navigation and the Doctor the speed. So far this strategy seemed to be working fine – apart from the two guards who were now lying unconscious on the floor of the Doctor and Marian's abandoned cell, they had not met a single other person on their journey through the castle. Marian had seen and seized hold of her weapons as they had ran through the dungeon, the Doctor had his sonic screwdriver safe in his pocket and that was all he needed (though to be honest, he wished he had his coat on, he loved it when it billowed out as he ran).

"We'll be there any second," Marian choked out, barely having enough breath to get the words out. Her mask was restricting her breathing a lot, but it was better that than having anyone recognise her. The Doctor had thought that there was no good to not being recognised if you passed out from lack of oxygen, but the look on Marian's face when he had pointed this out had silence him and stopped him from bringing up the matter again. Her stare could cut through steel, he was certain.

"After we get out there, I'm not sure what's going to happen," she continued, pulling her hand from the Doctor's and using it to grip her sword tightly, "there should be horses, but there will probably be guards too and, if we're very unlucky, Robin and his men."

"Unlucky?" the Doctor questioned, thinking that any outside help in this situation would be most welcome.

Marian sighed a long suffering sigh. "Robin's plans tend to avoid near death experiences, self-sacrifice and an awful lot of just going with the flow and not thinking of the consequences. It works well for him, but I daresay it will probably clash horribly with our plan."

"As far as I can see, Robin's idea of a plan and our idea of a plan seem to correspond rather nicely."

Marian gave the Doctor another look. "You are so like him sometimes," was all she said. The Doctor couldn't be sure if this was a compliment or an insult, but they had now reached the courtyard doors and so he resigned himself to never finding out.

He stormed through the double doors, feeling slightly like Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings (he really needed to get to the premiere of those films at some point) to be face with what could only be described as an ambush; at least 20 guards placed strategically about the courtyard, all turned to face the Doctor and Marian as they came to a shuddering halt, still breathing hard as they stared into the face of certain death.

The leader of the guards spoke up from his place in the centre of the formation. "Well, you didn't think we weren't listening to you, did you? We're well versed in the heroic escape attempts of Robin Hood's men – at least this way your deaths will provide more sport for us."

The guards lifted their weapons and Marian did the same, as the Doctor desperately searched for a way out. There wasn't one.

"You'd better find a weapon," muttered Marian, and the Doctor could see now that her eyes behind her mask were flashing dangerously, any fear veiled by a mask of sheer determination.

"I don't want to kill anyone. I didn't ask you to die for me."

"Does it matter? You're dying either way, and I'm protecting myself as much as you."

The captain smirked and raised his hand, ready to command the attack. "It's just a pity Robin Hood isn't here to witness your death."

"Well you've got a couple of things wrong there," came a voice from the other end of the courtyard, and the Doctor looked past the guard to the portcullis, now open, where Robin was sitting cockily atop a horse. "Firstly, who says I'm not here? And secondly, it won't be their deaths I'll be witnessing."

Robin raised his bow and arrow, but not before waving, as if to indicate some unseen persons should be moving forward. The Doctor looked on, letting a grin spread slowly across his features as first Alan, then John appeared behind Robin on horses. The Doctor finally let out a triumphant laugh as a certain blonde in a green dress cantered up next to Robin, a bow and arrow in her hands and her hair tied up in a bun. Tied to a saddle was a familiar brown coat.

Rose fidgeted in her saddle, as she watched Little John pull at the chain that worked the portcullis. The ride to the castle had been mostly silent, and Rose's quiver of arrows and bow had weighed heavily on her mind as well as her back. She had already agreed with herself that she would kill no-one, only wound them, unless one of her friends was in danger. This seemed like the sort of thing the Doctor would approve of, and it was the only logical way she could think of. _When did the Doctor become the benchmark that all actions are judged by? _she wondered to herself, realising that this had been her way of thinking for a long time now. The Doctor just had that effect on people, she decided.

The portcullis slowly slid up, and Rose was grateful for its relative silence. After all, being discovered now made the difference between a rescue and failure, and failure wasn't an option.

Robin gestured for them to stay put, before riding forward alone, through the portcullis and out of sight. "He does this a lot," said Alan, sounding slightly exasperated, "he always had to have the element of surprise, and appear without warning with a sarcastic comment." He and the Doctor really were very similar, Rose mused.

Little John had rode forward a little, watching for Robin around the side of the gateway. "This is it," he said, and all three rode forward, Rose not daring to let herself look for the Doctor until she was in position next to Robin. She looked up, eyes searching through the sea of guards towards the doorway, where she caught sight of the Doctor, a grin lighting up his face at the sight of her.

"I've got your coat!" she yelled, and all hell broke loose.

The guards seemed to sense that their primary target had changed, and in an instant they were upon the four horses at the gate, swords at the ready. Rose and Robin readied their bows, while Alan rode forward brandishing his sword and Little John simply dismounted, shooing his horse to the side and readying his staff against the onslaught of armoured guards that were now charging towards them.

Luckily the guards were not archers, and therefore Robin and Rose had an advantage. Rose was finding it hard to steady herself on her horse and shoot at the same time – in training there was nowhere near as much stress – but she managed to take down a few guards, always shooting at the legs and arms, making sure she did not cause any fatalities. Her aim was quite good, considering the amount of time she had been an archer (about 15 hours), and Rose was growing in confidence when she saw the Doctor and Marian sprinting towards them, dodging the guards like experts. Marian headed straight for John's discarded horse and pulled herself up with a surprising amount of grace.

"We are out of here!" yelled Robin. He had told them before they left that as soon as they had Robin and Marian then they were to exit immediately. This was a rescue, not a war. Little John grabbed an available horse that was tied to one of the posts at the edge of the courtyard but the Doctor, being blocked from any horses by swiftly advancing guards, was at a loss.

Roses sighed, watching as the Doctor turned around, taking stock of the situation and no doubt searching for an escape route. "Get up here now!" she ordered, and the Doctor spun around as she cantered up to him, extending an arm to help him up.

The Doctor hauled himself up behind her with a distinct lack of dignity and Rose snorted, comparing his scrambling to Marian's graceful ascent. "Where did you learn to do that?" the Doctor asked her, shock and awe colouring the question.

"I learnt from the best," Rose grinned, turning a little and rejoicing in the sight of his face, safe and close to hers once more, just how she liked it. "Besides, you didn't just expect me to sit and do nothing did you? Damsels in distress need saving, don't you think?"

"Oi, I am not a –!" countered the Doctor, but Robin was shouting, the guards were advancing and there was no time for banter. Rose shoved her bow onto her back, and reached back to grab the Doctor's arms, pulling them around her waist.

"Hold on, and don't get any ideas," she warned, before taking control and urging her horse out of the gate. They were moving fast, but not fast enough as the guards began to manoeuvre themselves towards the horses, and Rose realised they were heading towards a chase situation.

She stopped about 10 metres from the portcullis, turning her horse side on and ignoring Robin's shouts.

"Rose, what are you doing?" the Doctor asked, sounding worried and completely helpless.

"Saving our lives," was Rose's only answer, as she fitted an arrow to her bow. Little John had not been able to work the mechanism for the portcullis alone, and so had secured it with a rope from the outside, hoping to be able to cut it and use it as a weapon to crush some guards if need be. However, they had not needed this extra weapon, and the rope was still intact.

Rose took a deep breath, aimed and fired. The arrow shot through the air, slicing through the rope but not severing it. Rose watched the rope strain, trying to judge whether she needed another arrow. Luckily, the strain became too much for the rope and it snapped, the portcullis smashing down and trapping the guards, leaving Rose and the Doctor enough time to turn around and ride away towards the forest.

"And yes, you are the damsel in distress," Rose reminded the Doctor, enjoying the way his arms gripped her tightly around the waist and his chin rested on her shoulder as they galloped after Robin and the others, back to the camp.

**Couldn't resist the Lord of the Rings reference, sorry for that everyone. Well, only one chapter left, but I promise fluff and maybe a kiss, if you are very nice to me...**

**P.S. Have fixed a couple of errors - please don't blame me for using the wrong characters names sometimes. When you write "the Doctor and Rose" and "Robin and Marian" for so long, it's only natural you ge mixed up. Let me know if you spot any, I'll be sure to fix them. I tend to not notice punctuation errors especially, as I just assume the punctuation is there :S  
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	10. Chapter 10

**This is a beast of a chapter, but I couldn't bear to split it up. And yes, there is a kiss, by popular demand. I'm not one for writing stories where they're kissing one second and the next they're having sex on every available surface in the TARDIS. Call me old fashioned, but I just don't think it would happen like that - they would need more time, and I don't think that's how the Doctor does things (not that I don't think they wouldn't be doing that eventually ;)). And not that I don't love to read fics like that :P But anyway, here's the last full chapter and, once again dear readers, I really hope that you enjoy reading it. Allons-y!**

They were safe once again. They had ridden back from the castle with the Doctor clinging onto Rose as they rushed through the trees on the back of her horse. He had laughed almost the entire way, from triumph and relief and happiness all mixed up together, and Rose revelled in the sound and the feel over his voice reverberating through her and his breath on her cheek. At one moment, just after they had narrowly dodged a low hanging tree branch that had just grazed the Doctor's gravity defying hair, Rose was certain she felt his lips press lightly to the back of her head, brushing her hair just for a moment. She grinned uncontrollably, hoping that it had actually happened, but the excitement of it all made her temporarily lose her balance, and only the Doctor's hands around her waist kept her centred.

Back at the camp, Rose pulled her horse to a halt, watching fondly and Robin dragged Marian from her place on her horse and pulled her into a hug, which she returned in full. Rose waited until the Doctor had slid from the back of the horse before making her own descent, turning around to see him sitting on the ground looking slightly bewildered.

"Nice landing," she remarked, "then again, you didn't have the legendary Robin Hood teaching you how to ride a horse." Rose offered the Doctor her hand to help him up, pulling her hair from its bun as she did so. In that moment Rose was acutely aware of how crumpled she looked, the fact that her hands and face were probably dirty and that the Doctor was probably in much the same state.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as he put his hand in hers. "I'll have you know, Rose Tyler, that my horse-riding skills are second to none!" Rose grasped his hand with both of hers and pulled, and the Doctor shot up from the ground, landing right in front of her. They were standing far too close now, not quite touching but within an inch of each other, Rose looking up into the Doctor's face.

The Doctor was studying her face, a slightly smile brightening his features, but his eyes were dark and blazing in a look of intensity that Rose had barely seen before on his face. "Thankyou for saving me," the Doctor said quietly, and Rose smiled and twined her right hand with his left, eyes not leaving his.

"It was nothing really, I had Robin to teach me so I thought I might as well pick up a few skills while I had time to spare. I expect you were dying of boredom in that cell."

"Well, a little bit I suppose. Me and Marian managed to pass the time though."

"Oh really?" said Rose, raising an eyebrow and looking a little sceptical. The Doctor still had not stepped backwards, so Rose hadn't either, but their closeness was giving their words layers of unspoken meaning that hadn't been there before, and Rose knew that they needed something to break the tension.

Luckily, Robin obliged. "Doctor!" he called from where he and Marian stood, watching their exchange, "if you don't kiss her then I will!"

The Doctor looked a little embarrassed by this, a state which Rose had not seen him in that often and which made him look positively cute, but she turned her head and shouted "oi! Don't even think about it, Locksley!" before turning back towards the Doctor, putting her left hand around the back of his neck and pulling him into a kiss.

The Doctor's eyes opened wide, but Rose did not see what happened next as her own eyes fluttered closed in an instant. The Doctor's hand let go of hers in order to curl around her waist, until both his arms were wrapped around her, pulling her into him. She had to go up on her toes a little to make for their difference in height, and she brought her other arm up in order to tangle her hand in his hair.

The texture of his hair threaded through her fingers - a feeling that felt oddly familiar, as though she had done it before but couldn't quite remember it - almost distracted her from the moment when he began to respond to her kiss, his lips feeling smooth and wonderful as they touched hers. She breathed in his wonderful smell, a smell that reminded her of endless hugs, reunions and happiness and nights spent curled up next to him on the sofa in the TARDIS library, when she had fallen asleep on his shoulder as he read.

Breathing didn't seem like it should be an issue, not in a situation where Rose was so happy, but she was beginning to feel light-headed. Still, she extended the kiss long enough to remember everything about it, little details like the feel of the Doctor's arms around her back and the way his nose bumped hers and the curve of his bottom lip (ever since he had regenerated Rose had wanted to kiss that bottom lip. She felt a vague sense of achievement in finally having managed to do so, and realising that it was better than she had imagined. And she had imagined a _lot._)

At last they pulled away from each other, neither one moving from their position in each other's arms. It was only at that moment that they became aware of the cheers and whistles from the others which included Will and Much, who had apparently woken up just in time to become spectators to the Doctor and Rose's reunion.

Grinned, a little blush creeping into her cheeks as she avoided the Doctor's eyes.

"Well," he said, "that was new."

"Well you know," Rose replied, fumbling for the words and beginning to feel like she should move away from the Doctor, though his arms held her to him with no intention of letting go, "pleased to see you and everything."

"No wonder you needed to rescue me, less than a day apart and you're desperate and delirious."

Rose let out an outraged laugh, mouth falling open. "Excuse me, I believe I was just missing someone to carry my bags while I travel through time and space, the great Rose Tyler and her Doctor, the helpful companion."

"_Your_ Doctor, hmm?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow again, looking at her in a way that made Rose want to kiss him and slap him, at the same time cursing herself for having a big mouth. "Anyway, I don't believe we've had the customary hug yet."

Immediately they were back in familiar territory, Rose's head on the Doctor's shoulder as he lifted her into the air and swung her around, giggling and smiling and hoping she would never have to let go.

"Oh wait," she shouted, smacking the Doctor's arm to make him put her down, "I have something for you."

She ran back over to her horse and unhooked the Doctor's coat from the saddle, turning around swiftly and throwing it at him. He just managed to catch it before it hit him in the face, wearing the expression that Rose normally associated with the unexpected finding of a bunch of bananas in the TARDIS kitchen.

"Oh I've missed you," he crooned, shaking out the coat and dragging it over his shoulders, forcing him arms into the sleeves with unnerving speed, "it's no fun running around being chased without a coat to billow out behind you."

"Face it Doctor, you nicked that idea from Jack."

The Doctor managed to look simultaneously shocked, wounded and outraged at the same time, and his struggle for the appropriate words made her burst out laughing, her voice echoing off the trees as the Doctor continued to inspect and brush off his coat, choosing to ignore her.

However, speaking of Jack, his voice in Rose's head was starting to surface again. _Great job with the kiss, but you promised you'd tell him Rose. Go on, now's the time, it's now or never. He'll never say it, it's got to be you. Don't be a coward Rose Tyler._

Rose sighed, glad that the Doctor had now gone to speak to Robin and Marian, so he had not noticed her having an argument with the part of her subconscious that had taken on Jack's persona. _I'll tell him later. When we're on our way back to the TARDIS I'll let him know. I am not telling him in front of this lot, they've seen too much already. _

It seemed like a sensible plan to her, and Rose took a deep breath and walked over to her new friends, hoping to postpone the moment when she had to tell him for as long as possible. "Well Rose, I have to say you disregarded all my instructions about not stopping and going off on your own, but apart from that you were spectacular."

"Oh, all that 'don't wander off' stuff? Yeah, the Doctor'll tell you I'm not really very good at that."

"I can confirm it," chipped in the Doctor, hands in his trouser pockets, "turn around for two seconds and she's off, most jeopardy friendly person I've ever met."

"Well it turned out for the best, didn't it Doctor?" said Marian, her face showing traces of a smirk, "after all, you were pretty useless back there, without Rose you would be lying on the ground in the courtyard right now."

"Hey, now I was thinking of a plan, I would've got us out of there easily—," the Doctor began, but his voice was drowned out by the laughter of Marian and Rose. Rose wished she had had more time to spend with Marian, she seemed brilliant and definitely a match for the Doctor.

Rose turned to Robin now, and saw that he was already looking at her, grinning that charming grin that she had come to expect from him. "Thank you for everything."

Robin waved her off with his left hand, at the same time moving his right one to grasp Marian's. Rose smiled at this, hoping that one day Robin would have the courage to tell Marian what she was about to tell the Doctor. "It was no trouble, anything to rescue the damsel in distress."

"Excuse me," said Marian, obvious insulted.

"I wasn't talking about you," Robin said, before glancing at the Doctor, who immediately looked hurt.

"Hey, that's not fair, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thankyou very much."

"I sure you are," laughed Robin, "just make sure you've got the great Rose Tyler with you to protect you next time."

Everyone laughed and, after a hesitant second of deciding whether to be insulted or amused, the Doctor joined in, their voices combining to create a volume that caused the birds to leave the trees, calling to each other and flapping away in the early morning sun.

They were on their way back to the TARDIS, the Doctor insisting that they could walk the rest of the way from the place where they had first met Robin on their own. He had insisted so firmly that Rose couldn't help but wonder if he knew what she was about to do, though of course he couldn't.

The goodbyes had been brief but sincere, and Rose had hugged Marian and Robin tightly, wishing that she could see them again and knowing that she probably wouldn't.

They wandered up the muddy path together, not holding hands for once but keeping pace together even so, not hurrying to get back to the TARDIS but simply enjoying the fact that they were once again alone in each other's company, just the way they liked it. Rose searched for a way to start the conversation. The opening she selected was not perfect, but she was itching to get this over with and so she went ahead with it.

"Doctor, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you, though I suppose after what happened back there you can sort of guess what it is."

The Doctor seemed nonplussed. "If it's that you've changed toothpaste then you needn't bother, I could tell from the way your lips tasted."

Rose was thrown by this and she stopped in her tracks, forcing the Doctor to turn around and look at her. "Um, no...that wasn't it. In fact it was the other thing, the...the kissing thing. Surely you understand what I mean."

The Doctor smiled, a wonderful genuine smile that reminded Rose of when he used to have blue eyes and wear a leather jacket. There were few moments when Rose really got to see the true Doctor underneath all the bravado and excitement, and they were normally when the two of them were either arguing or in life and death situations.

"Rose," he sighed, walking towards her and stopping just in front of her, looking down at her with his brown eyes that seemed somehow sad, even though he was smiling. "D'you really think I've gone on this long without realising?"

Rose was taken aback – she had expected awkwardness and denial, maybe even a repeat of the anger and sadness she had seen when she had confronted him about Sarah-Jane and abandoning his companions. She had not expected reason, and she had not expected him to admit anything. Well, he hadn't actually admitted anything yet. Neither had she.

"Well, I sort of thought that you knew, I mean, I thought that I knew too, but I wasn't sure and I didn't want to say in case you weren't...I mean you didn't..." Rose let her voice trail off, yet again avoiding the Doctor's gaze by counting his freckles, a technique that she had developed to use whenever his intense stare was getting too much for her. She took a deep breath and looked right in his eyes, deciding to bite the bullet. "The truth is that I love you. I thought I'd better tell you now, while you're quiet and have no way of stopping me, and before you have any chance to tell me how short my lifespan is. I've said it and now you know and that's all there is to it."

Rose folded her arms and waited, reading the tiny changes in the Doctor's face which had now gone blank as he fought to decipher what he felt about her declaration. Her ideal situation would be for him to say the same to her, but of course she knew that was not likely to happen.

"Rose," he said again, seeming to enjoy saying her name, his eyes crinkling as though he was smiling though the rest of his face wasn't showing it, "I know. I've always known. Since before I regenerated, since I met you. You opened the TARDIS and looked into the vortex just to get back to me, do you know how much that changed me? It showed me someone really could love me, even after all the hideous things that I've done. So when I changed, I changed for you. I am yours, at least, this version of me is, it always has been, I'm tailor made for you." He was completely earnest, and Rose could see the effort it was taking him to say these words, to open up and actually tell her, because she knew that he knew the pain it would 'cause. He had said they couldn't have forever, because he couldn't spend the rest of his life with her, and Rose saw now that this was the reason that he hadn't ever said this before. He would lose her, so he built a wall and put his hearts inside it, to protect himself.

"But do you?" Rose blurted out (_big mouth again, _she thought to herself), "I mean, you know I do, but... well, do you?"

The Doctor took a deep breath, steeling himself. "Yes. Of course I do." And that was enough. Rose knew the effort it had cost him to say all that he had already said – she did not need to hear the words right now. He had told her, almost told her, so many times, she could wait a little longer for the words. As is was, she grinned, feeling tears rush to her eyes as he returned the grin, astonished laughter following as though he couldn't believe he had said it. He caught her up in a hug, burying his face in her hair, and Rose pressed her face into his shoulder, allowing the tears of relief and happiness and love to flow freely and soak the material of his jacket.

They stood like this for a little while, swaying slightly on the spot as the Doctor stroked her hair and Rose clung to him, feeling the warmth of his body and screwing up her eyes, making sure that she would remember this moment. They couldn't have forever, but they could have this.

**Do not panic, for there will be an epilogue. I'm not one for breaking a romantic moment, but an epilogue is needed to send them off on their TARDIS travels again I feel. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	11. Epilogue

**So here's the last bit, the epilogue. I've never written an epilogue for a story before, so that's exciting in itself! I hope you enjoy this last bit - allons-y!**

Finally they broke apart, Rose grinning a little shyly and wiping the remains of her tears from her eyes. The Doctor was still smiling down at her, face filled with the sort of happiness that comes with finally expressing a feeling you've been hiding for so long, and realising that someone else feels it too.

"Back to the TARDIS?" the Doctor suggested, gesturing towards the path with his head. Rose nodded, the Doctor took her hand as if nothing had happened and they began to walk again, Rose still floating on some sort of cloud high above the Earth, unable to believe how happy she was.

"Oh, and one more thing," the Doctor added. He turned around until he was completely blocking her path, standing facing her directly. Rose felt confused for a moment, before the Doctor leaned down and kissed her and she forgot where she was. She forgot everything really, apart from the fact that this kiss was actually surpassing the first one, something which she would not have said would be possible if she had been asked five minutes ago. It was short and intense and wonderful, with the Doctor holding her upper arms tightly as though he was afraid that she would disappear in the middle of it.

Unfortunately it had to end, but Rose took a few moments opening her eyes, genuinely dazed both by the suddenness of the kiss and by its passion. The Doctor grinned at her before grabbing her hand again and starting off down the path once more.

Rose stumbled at little at the sudden movement. "Oi, give me a second! You can hardly do something like that without any warning and then expect me to start walking the next second."

The Doctor cocked his head on one side, considering what she had just said. "Ah, so you're saying that I, the Doctor, and so brilliant at snogging you that I have managed to kiss the knowledge of how to walk from your mind. Well that's pretty impressive even for me, I'll have to make a note of my newfound skills. Maybe I should test them agai-."

Rose had been shaking her head with a smile on her face, partly at his arrogance and partly at his ridiculousness. Just to shut him up more than anything, she grabbed his tie and pulled him in for another kiss, thinking that the kissing thing had really improved their relationship a vast amount. After all, it had taken a lot of effort to stop herself from kissing him at a lot of moments in the past – it was nice to know she could save her energies and just go with it once in a while. Well, maybe more than once in a while if the last few minutes were anything to go by.

He had wrapped his arms tightly around her again, holding her as close to him as possible. Rose had wound her arms around his neck and was just thinking that she might needed to come up for air soon, although the Doctor didn't seemed inclined to give her a second to breathe any time soon, when she heard a noise that had become very familiar over the past 24 hours. She pulled back in a hurry and opened her eyes, trying not to get distracted by the Doctor's dazed expression as she peered around. In the trunk of a tree just to their left was embedded an arrow. The shaft of the arrow was sticking out just behind the Doctor's head – it had clearly only just missed him.

"Doctor," she said, pointing at the arrow. He turned, saw what she was pointing at and immediately looked to see where the arrow had come from. Rose turned too and saw, through the trees, a group of about half a dozen guards, wearing full armour and holding formidable looking bows and with quivers of arrows strapped to their backs.

"Run?" Rose suggested.

"If you can still remember how," the Doctor answered, taking her hand once again and grinning cockily at her.

"You're not that good," Rose grinned, watching as the Doctor's face gained an insulted look before starting to run, taking him by surprise and dragging him along as the arrows began to fly past them.

The Doctor managed to get control of his legs again and began to laugh as they sprinted through the woods, dodging the arrows and heading back to the TARDIS where, if they were both alive, Rose hoped that more kissing would ensue, though if it was going to inflate the Doctor's already planet sized ego she might have to rethink her position. Still, it was definitely an improvement.

"Tired yet Rose?" the Doctor shouted, crashing through plants and dodging around trees and yet still managing to sound smug.

"Shut up!" was the only answer he got. Rose was feeling tingly and warm inside from happiness, and although it occurred to her that feeling perfectly happy while in a life or death chase situation was a bit weird, she didn't care. Rose and her Doctor, doing what they did best – running for their lives.

The End.

**Well that's it. I'm going to have to say I'm really going to miss writing this story, I've really loved it. Thankyou for reading it if you've read to the end, and I hope you'll read some of my other stuff if you get the chance. Good bye, and thankyou again :)**


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